The Other Ones
by Claire Harker
Summary: When spending the summer at her grandmother's, Liv stumbles upon a srange world when she accidentally switiches bodies with a girl from there. Surrounded by qirky charaters Liv finds herself trying to get home and wondering if she even wants to go back...
1. Prologue

**The Other Ones**

**Prologue**

**Preparations**

"_In the day you see us not,_

_we sleep in shadows beneath your bed._

_In the dark is when we wake_

_to sprinkle nightmares on your head."_

the rat sang the words softly into the ear of a hooded figure.

"Be quiet! I need to concentrate!" snapped the girl under the hood. It was cold and dark in the forest that night, and a light fog had settled in on the place making the trees and other foliage appear to glow eerily. The girl knelt to the ground and dug her right hand into the wet soil, sinking her arm down as far as the earth would allow.

"Send this likeness to the other world," she muttered, then pulled her hand out of the ground. As if in response a wind blew causing a stick to break off a branch and land in the hole the girl had made with her hand. The girl carefully covered the hole with dirt and sighed.

"What now?" the rat asked.

"Now we wait," said the girl.

"And if the others find out?"

"They wont,"

"Not unless they have an inside source,"

"If you tell any of them I'll break your legs and leave you for whatever should come and find you," the girl's voice was calm and steady, a monotone that kept all emotion locked within her being. With a last look at the place where a hole had once been she turned and walked silently back the way she came, the only evidence of her being there was the dirt on her arm. But, of course, that could be washed off.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Summer**

Liv, stared out the window of the classroom as she waited for the last minute of school to pass, once the bell rang she would be free for the summer. With ten seconds left to go, Liv's mind raced as she thought of all that she would do. _Biking. _Nine seconds. _Nikki's ballet recital. _Eight seconds. _The public pool. _Seven seconds. _Camping. _Six seconds. _Star gazing. _Five seconds. _Monica's house. _Four seconds. _Babysitting. _Three seconds. _Rafting. _Two seconds. _New York City maybe. _One second. _Relaxation. _

The bell rang and all the kids in the classroom rushed out. Once outside the school, Liv unlocked her bike from the bike rack and started home. A sense of unreality settled over her as she took the familiar rout to her house and vaguely realized that next year she would be in high school. She looked, unseeing, ahead of her as she rode home, lost within her thoughts and unaware that she was gradually gaining speed. _I have to make this summer count! _She thought. Next year she would be at a new school, she would have to take a new rout, it all seemed to be happening so fast, _too _fast. … _I'm going too fast! _She suddenly realized, slamming on her breaks. Liv suddenly came back to reality and looked around, she couldn't believe she was already in front of her house. _I might have passed it. _She smiled to herself at the thought, then went inside.

"My teacher says I'm doing really well. She wants me to sign up for a competition that's coming soon, can I, Mom?" Nikki asked, that night at the dinner table. Liv looked at her sister thoughtfully.

"I think you should do it," she said, sweeping her gaze over her sister's slim body. Her eyes lingered first on the small chest and then on the narrow hips. Nikki certainly had the body of a ballerina, and the talent too.

"Sure, Sweetie, you can sign up. When and where is it?" their mother asked.

"It's in New York, in about a week maybe? My teacher said it would be good for me to go there early so I can practice and get a feel for city life or something,"

"New York, thats ah, a ways away. I'll talk to your teacher tonight though and we'll get it straightened out," their mother said. Nikki's eyes brightened and her smile spread from ear to ear.

"I can't wait!" she cried. Liv looked down at her plate, focusing on the salmon and trying not to show how proud she felt just then, nothing good came of a cocky little sister after all.

After dinner Liv's mother got on the phone with Nikki's dance instructor and Nikki locked herself in her room, leaving the dishes to Liv. She loaded them into the dishwasher absentmindedly thinking of New York. It would be great! The sights and sounds! How different it would be from Indiana. Instead of occasional laughter and hollering on Saturday nights, Liv would hear cars and the rush of the city when she went to bed. There would be so much to do and so much to see, she couldn't wait.

For the rest of the evening it was all she could think about. As she crawled into bed and turned off the lamp, Liv thought of how great everything was going. Lying on her back, in the dark, she thought of her sister. Most older sisters would probably feel jealous or harbor bitter feelings toward their younger, more talented, siblings, but not Liv. She couldn't imagine feeling this way about her sister's talent. It was a thing to be proud of. Liv was always amazed when her sister was on stage, there she watched Nikki transform from a tom-boy who had holes in all her jeans to a beautiful and graceful being, the likes of which had never been seen before. She loved watching her sister dance, it was mesmerizing. New York, Liv was excited to go there, she was glad things seemed to be working out, but most of all, she was happy for Nikki, and she couldn't wait to see her baby sister on stage once again.

The next morning Liv woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. She rolled over in her bed and put a pillow over her ears, trying to tune out a bird's repeated notes. _"Drink your tea, drink your tea," _it seemed to say over and over again, or, at least, that is what her Grandma Jackie had always told her it was saying. Knowing she would not be able to go back to sleep, Liv sat up and rubbed the fatigue from her eyes.

She was still yawning when she trudged downstairs in her long, flimsy, nightgown, her long golden hair a tangled mess. She made herself a few scrambled eggs and ate them in silence. When she finished, Liv could hear her mother just starting to stir upstairs. She cleaned up the supplies and walked back up to her room, now fully awake. As she sat in front of the mirror and worked through the tangles in her hair, Liv thought about New York. It was sure to be loud and busy. _Maybe I wont like it there. Maybe it will be too noisy for me. _No sooner had this thought crossed her mind than there came a slight knock on her door.

"Come in," Liv said, suspecting that it was her mother, and it was.

"Good morning, Sweetie," her mother said.

"Morning," Liv replied, she finished with her hair and went to her closet.

"Can I talk to you?" her mother asked.

"Sure," Liv said as she pulled off her night gown and put on her undergarments. Her mother walked into her room and sat down on the bed.

"Would, you be too terribly upset if you couldn't go to New York?" Liv stopped what she was doing and looked at her mother in surprise.

"Why do you ask?" she said suspiciously.

"Well, I talked to Nikki's dance instructor last night and she said that we should leave the day after tomorrow," her mother trailed off and looked out the window, Liv pulled on a shirt and took a blue jean skirt from its hanger.

"And?" she asked as she slipped the skirt over her hips and fastened it around her waist.

"If you sign up for the competition, and Nikki did, you are given two plane tickets. I'm afraid I can't afford to buy another one on such short notice, and I need to go with Nikki," Liv found it hard to be angry with her mother, for the look on her face was one of true sorrow and guilt. She sat with her legs together and her hands in her lap, her eyes never fully meeting her daughter's gaze.

"Well, I can't stay here, can I?" Liv finally said.

"I called your grandma and she said you could go over there," her mother offered.

"Which Grandma?" Liv asked, thinking of her Grandma Jackie, who lived in South Carolina. Surly her mother didn't mean to send her there, she couldn't afford a plane ticket and Jackie was direction dyslexic.

"Your Grandma Lynn," her mother said. Liv looked at her mother quizzically, she couldn't remember ever being in Grandma Lynn's house, and sometimes she doubted weather she even _had _a house

"Mom, Grandma Lynn is a little … um odd,"

"She's just different. Please, Liv, it would mean so much to your sister and I," Liv sighed. She could see that no amount of protest would help. It was go to Ohio and stay at Grandma Lynn's or not go to New York at all and cause Nikki to miss her chance.

"Okay," she said, "But only because Nikki actually has a chance out there,"

"You should get packed, I'll have to take you there first thing in the morning," and so, Liv packed her things into a suit case and spent the rest of the day watching Nikki practice her routine for the competition.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Grandma Lynn**

Liv looked out the window of the car, eager to see her grandmothers house for the first time since she could remember. "Are we there yet?" she asked. Her mother sighed and a slight smile played on her lips.

"Does it look like we're there?" she asked.

"No, where does Grandma Lynn live anyway?"

"Dayton, Ohio. We don't have far to go," Liv turned her attention from her mother and back to the window. Though she was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to go to New York, she couldn't help feeling a little exited.

"Does she live in a very big house?" she asked her mother.

"It's fairly large,"

"Was I ever there?"

"Yes,"

"When?"

"You were born here in Dayton, Sweetie," Liv gawked at her mother.

"I was?"

"Yes, your father and I were visiting Grandma Lynn when you were born,"

"Oh," Liv said. Her mind wandered off to her father, who was in France for a architecture job, he'd been gone for a week now.

"We're here," her mother said suddenly. Liv looked out the window. They were driving onto a narrow path, secluded by trees. At the end of the path Liv could see a huge Victorian style house that looked more like a mansion. It was surrounded by a vast forest that seemed to extend for miles.

"Oh wow," Liv said as she got out of the car and walked up to the porch, dragging her suitcase behind her. Before she could knock, the door swung open to reveal a tall woman, her dark hair hung in a loose ponytail and she was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

"Ah, Liv! Do come in darling," she said, "Don't worry, Janet, you don't even need to get out of the car. Just get back to Indiana and Nikki," she called to Liv's mother and it sounded to Liv as though she didn't want Janet to come in and visit. She waved goodbye as her mother drove away and then went inside the house with her grandmother.

The inside of the house seemed smaller than it looked from the outside. There was a long narrow staircase just to the left, and in front of her, Liv could see a medium sized sitting room that lead to other rooms and hallways. To the right was what Liv took to be the kitchen, which was surprisingly small.

"Now then," Lynn said, "why don't you go upstairs and see your room, it's the first one right in front of you when you reach the top of the stairs," Liv nodded and heaved her suitcase up the stairs. When she entered the room her eyes widened. It was a bit large, with a queen sized bed on the far right corner and a vanity sitting against the left wall. In front of her were white double-doors that let out onto a semi-circular balcony. Liv set her suit case at the foot of the bed and went out onto the balcony. Below her she could see a huge garden that looked more like a maze of over-grown rose bushes, and beyond that the forest seemed to go on forever. Liv smiled to herself as she looked out over the scenery, it wasn't New York, but she didn't think her experience here would be a bad one.

That night, Liv had a strange dream. She was back in Indiana, in her school building, only it was empty. Not just empty in that there was no one there, but empty as in there was _nothing _there. There were no posters on the walls, no music stands or chairs in the band and orchestra rooms, and the other rooms were just as empty without any desks. It looked like everything that could be removed had been, leaving the place deserted. Liv wandered the halls of the large school, looking for at least one room that wasn't completely lonely. Her search was unsuccessful and she soon found herself sitting on the stage in the auditorium. _What now? _She wondered. She stood up and turned to leave the stage but when she did she saw that a girl she hadn't noticed was standing a few feet away from her. The girl looked to be about Liv's age, she had long black hair that was black as ebony, and cold green eyes, she wore a moss-green cloak, and sitting on her shoulder was a big black rat.

"_Hush and shush, don't make a sound._

_You'd best be quiet when we're around._

_We'll crawl inside your mind and dreams,_

_awaken you to fears unseen."_

A wispy voice sang and Liv realized it was coming from the rat. _What a nasty little song. _She thought as she passed the girl and walked off the stage. She half expected the girl to turn or grab her, but when nothing happened she stopped.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Alice," the girl said evenly. Liv started to open her mouth but opened her eyes instead, ending the dream.

_That was a rather boring dream. _She thought as she sat up. She got up, got dressed, and went down to the kitchen where she found Lynn cooking … something. When she entered, Liv had to resist the urge to run out of the room. In the frying pan was something that looked like wet dog food, and it smelled worse.

"Is that … breakfast?" she asked, thinking that if it was she would be spending the rest of the morning in the bathroom, hanging over the toilet.

"Not for us," Lynn said smiling.

"Then who's it for?" Liv asked, puzzled.

"It's for Bruno, of course," Liv was about to ask who Bruno was but she got her answer as a big St. Bernard lumbered into the kitchen. _How come I didn't see that thing yesterday? _She wondered. When the dog saw her, if forgot all about the breakfast that Lynn had just laid down for it and walked up to Liv, sniffing her tennis shoes.

"Hi … Bruno," Liv said a little nervously, she had always been a little skittish around dogs, especially big ones.

"Come now, let's break our fast, shall we?" Lynn said in a grand voice as she all but pushed Liv over to a round table where pancakes were sitting. Liv sat down and started eating.

"So, what do you plan to do today?" Lynn asked conversationally.

"I think I'll take a look around, if thats okay with you," Liv said. A shadow crossed her grandmother's face.

"Just don't go to far into the woods," she said sternly, "I'm afraid something might … uh, _hurt _you,"

"Is something wrong, Grandma?" Liv asked, feeling uneasy all of the sudden.

"No no, dear, just as long as you follow instructions!" her grandmother said, suddenly cheerful.

Liv spent the rest of the morning exploring the huge house. All of the rooms were decorated oddly, some as if it was still the 19th century, others having little or no furniture at all, and what was in them was covered with sheets that bore strange markings on them. "It's just for good luck," Lynn said when Liv had asked about it. She wandered from room to room looking around each one slowly. She saw pictures of her dad and his siblings, and there were quite a few pictures of a handsome young man wearing a military uniform who Liv assumed to be her late grandfather or another beloved relative. She was studying a portrait of the man standing in front of a fighter plane when her skirt pocket vibrated. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Ahem, this is the donut man, wondering if you would like to go get some donuts with me," Liv smiled when she heard the voice.

"Hi, Nikki," she said, "How's New York?"

"Loud, busy, you wouldn't like it here," Nikki said.

"I see, are you practicing?" Liv asked as she wandered out of the room and up the steps.

"Yes, I'm practicing, what about you?"

"What do I need to practice?" She walked absentmindedly down the hall.

"You need to practice being patient," Nikki giggled.

"I am patient. Are you going to do well in the competition?"

"Maybe..."

"Let me try again, are you going to do well in the competition?" Liv fiend a scolding tone, and found herself in yet another large room.

"Yes, I'll do well," Nikki said, but Liv wasn't listening anymore, she was staring straight ahead of her at something that made a chill go down her spine.

"I'm going to have to call you back, Nikki," she said as she hung up and put the phone back into her skirt pocket. In front of her was a painting of a girl with long hair that was black as ebony and cold green eyes. The girl from her dream. _Thats kind of spooky. _She thought, more amused and intrigued than scared, now that the initial shock of seeing the painting had passed. It was perfect, exactly what had been in her dream, save for the rat that should have been on the girls shoulder and was not present in the painting. Liv stared at it for a long time, calling back the events in her dream. What had the girl called herself? Alice? _Yes, it was Alice. _Liv thought. She then turned to leave, never noticing how the light from the window made Alice's mouth seem to lift into a devious smile as Liv left the room.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Down the Rabbit Hole**

"Can I go in the garden, Grandma?" Liv asked one morning.

"Yes, but take Bruno with you and don't go too far into the woods," her grandmother said tiredly.

"So, I can go into the woods, just not too far, right?" Liv asked.

"Oh, I suppose, as long as you don't go _too _far," her grandmother replied.

"Well, how far is _too _far?" Liv asked.

"If the house looks very small, then you've gone too far,"

"Just out of curiosity, how come you get all stiff and serious when the forest is mentioned, "

"There are some … bad things, that live there," Lynn said, her voice had suddenly become very stern, making Liv interested to know what her grandmother thought lived behind the house.

"You mean like coyotes and wolves?" she asked.

"The coyotes only come out at night and there are no wolves around here,"

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"There are things and matters that aren't to be messed with in this world," Liv stared at her grandmother, curious to know more, maybe some old legends or folk tales were the cause of her grandmother's superstitions.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" she asked, but Lynn just shook her head.

"Go on and play now," she said quietly. Liv did as she was told.

The garden was smaller than it looked from the balcony and as Liv walked through the rows of rose bushes, Bruno at her heels, she made up stories about people and things that lurked in the shadows. When she came to a gazebo in the heart of the maze she sat down on the cool stone and rubbed Bruno's ears.

"You're a good dog, aren't you," she said. Bruno just looked at her with his big brown eyes. "I usually prefer cats over dogs, but you're not so bad," she said as she stood up and walked further into the maze, heading toward the woods. Bruno followed. The two of them walked for what seemed like a long time. Liv soon forgot to keep watch on how big the house looked from where she was standing and soon it got to the point that she could no longer see the giant place. Yet she kept walking. Liv was just about to head back when Bruno started to growl.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She looked where the dog seemed to be looking and shook her head. Extending from the earth was a branch that resembled a hand. "It's only a branch," she said to the dog as she turned to leave, but Bruno didn't move. "Come on," Liv said. Taking the dog by the collar, she attempted to pull him along with her, but he snapped at her before they could get anywhere. she sighed in exasperation. "Okay I'll show you," she said, and walked up to the branch, intending to break off one of the "fingers". No sooner had her hand so much as brushed the tip of the hand-like branch than the fingers curled around her wrist in a death grip. Liv screamed and Bruno started barking. She tried to free her wrist from the things grasp but it was to no avail. The thing sank into the earth and dragged her down with it. The last thing that Liv was aware of was Bruno's teeth closing around her ankle and a girl with hair as black as ebony and cold green eyes staring up at her, a crazed smile on her face.

_"Hey, I think she's waking up!"_

"_Give her space, guys, what are you trying to do, suffocate her?" _Liv groaned, who did these strange voices belong to?

"Back off, she's my human!" barked a voice that was both familiar and not familiar at the same time.

"_Your _human, what are you talking about, mutt!" a young mans voice said. Liv stirred and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping whoever was there would go away if she ignored them.

"Both of you back up so I can take a look at her!" it was a woman's voice that spoke this time. Liv reluctantly opened her eyes and looked at the people hanging over her. A young man with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing fancy 19th century cloths, a tall woman wearing a dirty but well-made work dress, wisps of her dark hair were beginning to stray from the bun she had put it in, and Bruno.

"You know you really have to stop trying to run away like that, Alice," the blond said.

"What?" Liv said, "I'm not Alice, my name is Liv." her head ached with a clarity that almost convinced her that this was all real.

"Oh, my, you really aren't Alice are you?" said the woman, shaking her head.

"Thats what I've been trying to tell you!" Bruno said. Liv blinked. _Did he just … talk? _She wondered. Surly this must be a dream. She pinched herself on the arm, her nails digging into the skin until it bled. Then she waited,but nothing happened. _Guess it doesn't work after all. _

"Where am I?" she asked after a short silence.

"You're in Akon," said the blond boy.

"Akon?"

"That's what this world is called," said the blond boy. "I'm Luke," Liv sighed, and heaved herself up so she could get a better look at the place. The room she was currently in was small and cramped, she was lying on a bed that looked like something one would see in an orphanage or a movie about an orphanage. In the right corner by the door was a dirty, old-looking sink. It would have scared her to be in such a place but outside the door she could see a wide open room made of marble with a large balcony much like the one in her own room at Lynn's.

"Here, this may come as a shock to you, but you'll find out sooner or later," the woman said, handing Liv a mirror. Instead of seeing her face reflected in the glass, Liv saw a girl with long ebony hair, but instead of cold, green eyes like she was used to seeing by now, she saw her own wide, blue eyes.

"So, where's the real Alice?" she asked.

"Probably, on the other side, in your body," the woman said.

"Oh," Liv said blankly, she still didn't think any of this was real. She made a few faces in the little mirror, getting used to her new appearance, then looked down at her cloths. She was wearing a long moss-green cloak and under that, a plain, milky white dress. The fabric looked cheap but it was soft to the touch and had an almost warm feel to it.

"So, uh what do we do about her, Sophie?" Luke asked the woman.

"We can't do anything if we don't know how Alice managed to pull something like this off," Sophie said thoughtfully, "I'll bet Chauncey knows something about this,"

"Um, do you guys mind if I look around a little?" Liv asked, really just wanting to have some time to herself.

"Yeah yeah, just don't leave the house," Sophie said, obviously more concerned with her own thoughts than the supervision of a girl she didn't know. Liv stood up and walked out of the room while the two strange people talked, Bruno followed her, like any dog would.

When the girl left, Sophie sighed and sat down on the bed.

"Do you really think it was a good idea to let her go wandering off by herself like that?" Luke asked.

"She wasn't alone, that dog went with her," Sophie replied curtly.

"You know what I mean,"

"Yes, but I still don't see the harm in letting her get a feel for the place. Besides we have bigger problems to deal with right now,"

"I thought she_ was_ the problem," Sophie, sighed and shook her head.

"No, the problem is what we're going to do about this. Right now our main priority is finding Chauncey," she said, Luke shrugged.

"Good luck," he said, "you'd have to get an army of bloodhounds just to _find _Chauncey and getting him to show himself is a whole other story,"

"Not if you know him. Other people think he's hard to find but if you think about it's actually quite obvious," Sophie said as she walked out the door, Luke followed.

The 'house' was more like castle, with winding staircases and long halls. _And I thought Grandma Lynn's house was big. _Liv thought. The whole place gave her a content feeling, she didn't feel in the least bit anxious or worried. Why should she? It was only a dream, right?

"If you keep up like this, you'll get lost," Bruno's voice startled Liv out of her musings.

"Oh, I don't think I'll get lost, and if I do I'll just wander around until I wake up," she said as she started down a flight of steps.

"So you think this is just a dream?" Bruno asked. Liv shrugged.

"Probably," she said, and she felt rather than saw the old dog roll his eyes. When she got to the first landing she turned and her jaw dropped. In front of her was what looked like the main entrance to a palace. The wide stairs led down to a vast open space that was probably used as a dance floor. Directly in front of her, at the far end of the room were huge double doors that most likely opened to outside. _"Yeah, yeah, just don't leave the house." _Sophie's words echoed in Liv's head, but she wanted so badly to see what was beyond those elegant doors.

"This is definitely a castle of some sort, so if I were to go outside to find a courtyard or a garden that technically wouldn't be leaving the house, would it?" she asked Bruno.

"That woman said not to leave the house, which in my mind means don't go out," the dog replied.

"But, if there's a courtyard or something of the sort out there, thats still on castle grounds. So I'm technically _not _going out, or leaving the house,"

"I would advise against it but I don't think I can stop you," Liv smiled and rushed down the rest of the stairs to the double-doors as fast as she could without making too much noise. She opened the big doors to reveal a vast … garden? Or a courtyard? A court-garden, yes thats what it was. Small trees lined the walls along with flower beds, the rest was mostly open space except for a huge fountain smack dab in the middle of the place. There were paths on either side of the court-garden that led to the back of the castle. Liv decided to explore there first. She walked in between the walls of the court-garden and the walls of the castle, being careful not to soil her clothing. Bruno stayed at her heels but said nothing. When she reached the back, she smiled. There was a huge maze of overgrown rose bushes just like the one at Lynn's only much, much bigger. Liv wandered through the rows of bushes enjoying the sight. When she had gone deep into the maze she came to a clearing, in the middle of which was a small fountain.

"Maybe we should head back," said Bruno.

"I'd actually rather just wake up," Liv said. She was beginning to wonder if this was actually a dream, it all seemed so real, a little _too _real for comfort.

"Well, I'm going to let the others know where you are so stay here," Bruno said as he turned and left.

"Okay," Liv replied. She sat at the edge the fountain and dipped her hand into the water, when she did she immediately pulled back and gasped in surprise. _How can water be _that _cold without freezing. _She wondered, wiping her hand on her cloak. _Maybe if I stick my head under, I'll wake up. _She sucked in a deep breath and held it, then quickly lowered her head into the freezing water. Nothing. She came up disappointed.

"Oh, so this is where you've been hiding, the duchess is looking everywhere for you," Liv jumped at the unfamiliar voice, and turned around to see who it belonged to. Standing in front of her was a handsome boy who looked to be about a year or two older than her. He had sleek black hair and soft brown eyes, he was wearing nice black cloths much like the ones the boy named Luke had been wearing. When Liv turned she saw only a flash of what had been a teasing smile, but the expression was quickly replaced with a look of confusion.

Alexander looked at the girl before him, puzzled. She looked exactly like Alice, yet something was off. Her face looked kinder and more innocent. She stared up at him with clear blue eyes … _blue _eyes! Alice had _green _eyes.

"Alice?" he asked. The girl shook her head.

"No, I'm Liv," she said as she stood up. Alexander looked over the girl thoughtfully. She looked just like Alice, even down to the cloak she usually wore. After a minute he decided that the best thing to do would be to take her to the duchess.

"Well, _Liv_, if you would just follow me, then maybe we can find out what exactly is going on," he said as he started to walk back the way he came.

Liv followed the boy back inside the castle. As they walked, a feeling of unease began to settle over her. It seemed that this 'dream' had been going on for quite a long time, longer than she thought a dream could last. If she thought about it, everything seemed to fit together perfectly. This explained why her grandmother hadn't wanted her to go too far into the woods and possibly the painting of Alice in the empty room. If this _was _real then that meant that the real Alice might actually be in her body, living her life. _Calm down, it's only just starting to get dark. When I go to sleep tonight, I'll wake up in the morning to find that this is all just a dream. _She told herself. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that the boy had stopped and she might not have noticed for a while had she not walked right into him. He stumbled a bit but managed to keep his balance.

"Oh, sorry!" Liv said quickly, feeling her face flush in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," said the boy. Liv looked at her surroundings, they were standing in a narrow hall way in front of two large doors. The boy knocked and the doors opened to reveal what Liv could only describe as a throne room. There was a long red carpet leading up to a small platform. On the platform sat one large chair and in the chair sat the most beautiful woman Liv had ever seen. Her long hair was a rich shade of brown and her green eyes were kind and welcoming. She wore an elegant green dress that collected in folds at her feet. Her skin was pale but not so much that it made her look ill. Standing beside her were Sophie, Luke, and Bruno. When the doors opened they turned and the woman smiled.

"Welcome back Alex, do come in," she said sweetly. The boy walked inside the room and Liv followed.

"Duchess," he addressed the woman politely and her smile widened.

"I see you've met our Alice impostor," she said, her tone light, and joking.

"Yeah, I guess so," the duchess's smile faded as she looked at Liv.

"What do you call yourself, my dear?" she asked.

"Liv," Liv replied.

"Yes, well it seems that theres not much we can do about this little situation until we know more about what Alice intended. And our inside source is missing," the duchess said.

"I see,"

"So, for now, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here,"

"Okay," the duchess's smile was one of relief.

"Now then," she said "it's getting late and it's been a long day so I think we all deserve some rest. Sophie, will you show our guest to her room?"

"Right away ma'am," Sophie said, "come on then,"

Later, Liv sat on an elegant bed in Alice's room. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. The bed was one fit for royalty, with dark purple sheets and a matching canopy. The rest of the room was small and decorated in a similar style making the whole place seem to glow a purple-blue color. The bed was in the far left corner of the room and next to it was a dresser with all of Alice's cloths inside it. Against the right wall there was a desk with a huge old-fashioned mirror attached to it. Liv looked down at Bruno who was asleep at the foot of the bed. She yawned and pulled the covers over her head, waiting for sleep to come. Liv had no doubt in her mind that she would wake up in her room at Lynn's. Causing this dream, like any other, to be forgotten.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Chauncey**

When Liv opened her eyes the next morning, she felt sick. She hadn't woken up to find that it was all a dream, instead she woke up in the room she had gone to sleep in the night before. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head. _It's just a bad dream, I'm going to wake up soon. _

"_Come with caution, come through fast._

_You're trip through here may be your last._

_We will come at beck and call,_

_and we will watch you as you fall."_

A wispy little voice sang into Liv's ear. She opened her eyes and sat up. Sitting on her pillow was a big black rat with beady red eyes. Liv looked at the creature and realized something.

"You're the rat from my dream," she blurted.

"How can you tell, don't all rats look the same to you humans?" the rat sneered.

"I don't know any other rat that can talk … or sing," Liv said. _Am I seriously talking to a rat? _She thought. She sighed and walked over to the desk. Sitting down in front of the mirror she began to work through the tangles that had collected in her long hair. "I thought there weren't any rats in this castle," she said.

"Oh, I'm the only one, so don't worry your pretty little head," Liv stood up and started rummaging through Alice's closet.

"What to wear? What to wear?" she mused, trying to ignore the talking rat on her pillow.

"Wear something with pockets," the rat said.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Liv didn't say anything and pulled out a nice red dress that looked like something a girl would wear to a tea party. She pulled it on, along with some black knee socks and dress shoes.

"There, and look it even has pocket," she said, looking down at the rodent. He looked back at her and in one swift movement jumped into the little pocket on the dress. "Because thats exactly what I need right now, a big ugly rat hiding in my pocket," Liv said sarcastically as she walked out of the room and headed for the kitchen.

"I see someone slept in," Sophie said as Liv walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, the food looked very good but she wasn't hungry. That morning everybody ate their breakfast in silence each consumed with his or her own thoughts. Liv didn't eat, but just picked at her food, occasionally sneaking a piece of pancake into her pocket for the greedy little rat, or under the table where Bruno lay patiently at her feet. _This dream has definitely been going on for too long. I should have woken up by now. _She thought, dismayed and uneasy. These people all seemed so nice but she would still rather be with Grandma Lynn, in a world that was familiar to her. Liv stood up and pushed her chair back into place.

"Thanks for breakfast," she said as she picked up her dishes and brought them over the the sink. As she walked out she ran into Sophie, her body colliding with the other woman's in an unexpected jolt. The rat gave an angry squeak from inside Liv's pocket. Everything went silent and Liv felt the others staring at her.

"Did your pocket just squeak?" Luke asked, bewildered.

"Uh, I don't think so," Liv lied, she had the feeling that hiding a rat in her pocket would be looked down on if anyone found out.

"Well, why don't you check, just in case," the duchess suggested, not unkindly.

"Uh, no I'm fine, goodbye now," Liv started to walk away but she felt a sharp pain pierce her thy as little rat teeth bit into her skin. Impulsively, she snatched the rat out of her pocket and tossed it on the floor.

"What was that for!" she yelled.

"You nearly squashed me!" the rat said accusingly.

"You could have at least waited until I was outside or something!"

"I don't take orders from humans! Especially not ones who blow my cover!" In that moment Liv forgot about the other people in the kitchen.

"_I _blew your cover? _You _blew your own cover, squeaking like that!" she yelled.

"Well what do you expect, I'm a rat, and I was nearly squashed! It's your fault for not watching where you were going and then you had to throw me out of your pocket! Thus, you blew my cover!"

"Well, _excuse _me if I find the idea of a rat in my pocket unappealing!"

"Then why did you let me hide there in the first place?"

"Wow, it's almost like thats Alice standing there instead of Liv, the way those two are fighting," Alexander said, amused.

"Yeah, but Alice was scarier and she never raised her voice," Luke said.

"Wait you _know _this rat?" Liv asked.

"That _rat _is our inside source. Liv, meet Chauncey," Sophie said. Liv looked at the rat who glared back at her, his dislike for her evident in his little red eyes.

"Oh, um I kind of imagined you to be … ah … a little more ..." she trailed off.

"You expected me to be human," Chauncey said flatly.

"Yeah,"

"So, Chauncey, anything you want to tell us?" Sophie asked. Her voice was bitter sweet and her smile had death written all over it. Chauncey, however, was not fazed, or if he was, he didn't show it. He looked her right in the eye with a bored expression on his face.

"Nope," he said simply.

"Please, Chauncey?" the duchess asked.

"Nope,"

"Come on, Chaunce, you don't want to be stuck with Liv forever, do you?" Luke asked, teasingly. Liv wasn't offended.

"Thats her name? How dull," Chauncey said, Liv ignored him.

"Thats not the point. Chauncey, you know your the only one Alice really trusts. So stop being difficult and tell us what she intended," Sophie said. Chauncey sighed.

"Alice never tells me anything anymore. All I know is that she didn't intend to switch _bodies _with someone just _places_." he said.

"So you don't know why she did this?" Sophie asked.

"Of course I do, you do too! She hates this place, she hates this world! Come on, Sophie, you know Alice, she's only tried about a hundred different ways to get out of here." At this point in the conversation or argument, Liv began to get a little uncomfortable, she didn't like listening to people argue. She was concerned about getting home or waking up – she wasn't sure what to think anymore – but it didn't seem like anything would be explained to her at this time unless she asked and, though she had only just met Sophie, she didn't think it would be wise to interrupt her when she was arguing. As the two of them continued their bickering, Liv stood up and walked quietly out of the room. Unnoticed and not missed, she was good at doing that.

She didn't particularly remember walking up the stairs and coming to the marble room she had first seen when she arrived or the dream started. However, when she thought about it, it seemed to her that she did vaguely remember walking up those stairs and out on to the large, semi-circular balcony. Liv looked down at the small strip of space between the court-garden's wall and the wall of the castle. How easy it would be to jump, climb over the railing of the balcony and just let herself fall.

"They say you can't die in your dreams," she said, looking down at Bruno who had been up here when she came. The dog was sleeping and didn't hear her. "So if this is a dream I'll wake up before I hit the ground," but that was just it. It was that one little word, that _if _that made Liv uneasy. _If _this was a dream. Meaning that it could be real and the fact that she doubted the weather this _was_ a dream scared her. _I should jump now to prove it isn't a dream. _She thought, but then, if it wasn't she'd be dead. There were better ways to determine what was real and what was not, they just took longer. Liv sighed. _If I go to bed tonight and wake up here in the morning then I'm not dreaming. _She decided. Satisfied with herself, Liv thought about what she should do in the meantime. She took a deep breath and let it out. The air in this world was different, it felt clear and pure in her lungs. It was _cleaner,_ She realized, and when this set in she noticed that she had not seen most of the modern appliances one would usually find in a home, save for indoor plumbing and electric lights. In fact, it was odd, on the surface everything looked so modern, so much like her own world. The lighting, the furniture, the bathrooms and kitchens, but upon closer inspection it seemed to lack various modern day things, like a microwave or a dishwasher, there were no computers or televisions or cell phones, and Liv had yet to see a car, which would probably account for how clean the air was. The whole place was like something out of a strange movie. It seemed to Liv that the people here were perfectly capable of creating cars and microwaves and dishwashers but that they just didn't want to do so. Maybe it was better this way, it would certainly limit the amount of laziness. _Maybe that was the idea. Maybe they just didn't make these things because the didn't see any actual need for them. _It was a funny thing to think about, though it made perfect sense. These people created only what they needed and nothing more.

Liv looked up from the ground and out at the mansion grounds. Beyond the wall was a wide expanse of grass that was fenced in, and farther of Liv could just barely see … was it a city? From where she was it looked like a white cluster of something, something she assumed to be buildings. Yes, it was a city, and a big one too.

"Excuse me, Alexander, right?"

"Huh?" Alex looked up from his book to see the curious blue eyes of Alice … wait, no, Liv, staring at him.

"Your name, it's Alexander, right?" she asked again.

"Oh, yeah. Uh you can call me Alex though," Alex said, getting over the initial surprise of seeing Alice, no, Liv, right in front of him when he hadn't even heard her come into the room.

"Okay, Alex," Liv said.

"Is there something I can do for you?" he asked when she didn't say anything. She seemed to come back from a daze and her face flushed when she realized she had been spacing out.

"Uh, sorry. But yes there is something. I want to see the city," At this, Alex was taken off guard. He hadn't expected such a sudden request from this shy girl, and he certainly never expected her to come to _him _for such a thing. Why would she?

"The city?" he asked. Liv nodded.

"Will you take me?"

"Right now?"

"Please?"

"Ah, okay, lets go," Alex said, standing up.

A few minutes later the two of them were standing outside a huge barn where the horses were kept. Alex opened the door and went inside, Liv followed.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before, Liv?" Alex asked as he saddled Rose, a strong, chocolate mare.

"No," Liv answered quietly, he looked over at her and noticed that she was standing in the doorway. "I think I'd rather walk," she said, looking at the horse uneasily, Alex couldn't help but laugh a little.

"We wont get there fast enough on foot," he said. He mounted Rose and urged her slowly over to the barn door. Liv looked up at him, her expression blank, but not unkind. Alex held out his hand to her and smiled. "Come on, I don't bite," he said. Liv took it and he pulled her up in front of him. She swung one leg over the horse's side so that she could hold onto its neck. Alex watched her settle and couldn't help but think of Alice. True, they hadn't been the best of friends, but when she was younger he remembered giving her rides like this. Then she got older, more independent, and colder, until she became completely detached and no fun to be around. Alex missed the days before the only person Alice talked to was Chauncey.

"Okay, I'm ready," Alice said.

"Okay, Alice," Alex replied, forcing himself to focus, to come back to reality.

"It's not Alice, it's Liv." Alex blinked, and then the realization hit him. _Shoot!_

"Oh! I'm so sorry, you just-" he stammered but Liv cut him off.

"It's fine. You apologize a lot, don't you?" she said, turning to face him.

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked?

"Kind of, because you're apologizing for things that aren't your fault,"

"Eh, sorry,"

"See! Don't apologize so much, okay?" she smiled sweetly at him and he wondered how he could have ever mistaken her for Alice.

"Okay," he agreed, "now let's get going,".

When they arrived at the edge of the city, Liv slid off the horse shakily.

"Careful," Alex said, jumping off the horse and steadying her. She hadn't realized how firm his grip was until now, it was comforting. "What did you think of your first ride?" he asked.

"Let's never do that again," Liv replied, still feeling woozy from the rough and uneven ride. He had said they would go slow but the horse hadn't walked any of the way there. Alex laughed.

"Sorry, if that was a little rough, but you'll get used to it," he said. Liv sighed and smiled wryly.

"Don't apologize, you don't need to," she said. Alex didn't reply, but the look on his face told Liv that he had been about to say just what she'd told him not to, and that made her smile.

The city was huge, and all the buildings were a dazzling white. Stands lined the roads, selling everything from fruit to jewelry (probably fake) and the vendors were all yelling things like "fresh baked bread, no where else, only here!" and "Get the finest jewels in all of Akon, right here and for crazy low prices!". People of all kinds walked the streets. There were women in elegant colorful dresses, children in cute, if somewhat overdone outfits and men in everything from casual, everyday cloths to suits.

"Oh wow!" Liv gasped, the place was so amazing, she wondered how New York could be any better.

"Is it all that you imagined?" Alex asked.

"Even better!" she said, "Where should we start?"

"Well, I need to run a few errands for Sophie, you're welcome to come with me, or you can look around here until I get back,"

"Thanks, but I think I'll stay around here," Liv said.

"Okay, just don't leave the market area, this is a big place," Alex said, before disappearing into the crowd, leaving Liv to herself.

She wandered around the market place for what seemed like a long time, and she quickly saw why Alex had wanted her to stay withing the area, it was huge! The one section seemed to go on forever and that was just a small part of the whole city! After a while Liv found herself in a more rundown part of the section, there were more people dressed in rags and the people manning the stands were shady looking and all had raspy voices. She was about to turn and head back the way she came when something or someone ran right into her, almost knocking her over. Liv looked down, on the ground was a thin man with short brown hair. His face was gaunt and his watery eyes were large and sunken in, making him look malnourished.

"Sorry, miss," he mumbled, standing up, then his eyes widened when he actually looked at her and a thin smile spread across his face. This made Liv uneasy and she took a few steps back. The man laughed. "Ah, yes, I am so sorry! Sorry for everything that has happened to you and everything that will come to be! Ha ha, you poor girl! You poor, sad girl! I am truly sorry!" by now the man was laughing hysterically, and Liv wondered if he was mentally stable, (probably not). She turned to leave but he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in close, his face suddenly serious.

"Now, listen here, Girlie," the man said, "you don't belong here, and I'm sure you know that. I don't care what you do to try and get back home, or if you even try to go home at all, but if you get in my way, I'll make you wish you were dead! Got it?" Liv could only nod. She was frozen, every nerve in her body was screaming at her to run, but she couldn't seem to find her legs. "Good girl," the man said and with that he let go of her and walked off, laughing hysterically the whole time.

Liv stood there for a moment, taking in what had just happened, she was pretty sure he had threatened to … no! She didn't want to think about it. Again, she was just about to turn and leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and her blood ran cold.

"There you are," a familiar voice said, but instinct had already taken over, Liv screamed and turned, ready to strike the person, when they grabbed both of her wrists to keep her from lashing out. She was glad they had too, because when she saw who it was, a wave of relief washed over her, and she relaxed.

"Liv, are you okay?" Alex asked, his face concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied, "you just startled me, is all. Can we go home now?"

"Um, okay. Seen enough already?"

"Yeah, lets go back,"

They walked back in silence until they reached the nicer part of the market place. Then Liv broke the silence.

"Is that part of the errands you had to run?" she asked, gesturing to a black top hat on Alex's head that she hadn't noticed before.

"Oh, this? No, it's just something I picked up at one of the stands," he said, smiling. Liv cocked her head and took in the sight of him with his new hat.

"It suits you," she said, finally.

"Thanks," he replied.

Later that night, Liv sat in front of mirror, working through the tangles in her hair. How Alice stood such long hair was beyond her belief. After combing through it tree times, each time finding some new tangled, mat that hadn't been there before, Liv put the brush down with a sigh. _This is my body now. That gives me the right to do what I want with it! _She thought as she stood up and walked out the door.

Sophie was just about to get into her bed when there was a knock at her door. She sighed, it was 9:30 for Peat's sake!

"Who is it?" Sophie asked.

"Can I come in?" the person on the other side asked.

"Sure," Sophie replied, recognizing the voice but not being able to place it, as she was tired. The door opened and Liv peeked in, she had a pair of scissors in her hand.

"Can I ask a favor?" she asked.

"What do you need?"

"Will, you cut my hair for me? I'm afraid I'll mess up if I try to do it myself," Sophie was taken by surprise at this request. It was so out there, not unheard of, but just not something a person expected to be asked. Especially not at 9:30 at night. Sophie, sighed and smiled to herself.

"How short do you want it?" she asked.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Creating Complications**

When Liv went down to breakfast the next morning, she was greeted with incredulous stares and open mouths. The only person without a look of utter bewilderment on her face was Sophie, who was smiling knowingly. Alex was the first to break the silence.

"Well, I wont be mistaking you for Alice anymore," he said with a smile.

"No kidding! Alice would've never let anyone touch her hair, let alone cut it!" Luke said.

"I think it looks nice, it suits your personality," the duchess said, smiling.

"Thank you," Liv replied as she sat down and started eating. Sophie had cut off quite a bit the night before. Her dark hair now extended just to her shoulders instead of all the way down her back. After being in this place for a day, she was beginning to get used to life here and she could almost forget that this wasn't her home.

After everyone had finished their breakfast, the duchess cleared her throat.

"Liv, see me in the other room when you've put up your dishes, please," she said. Liv nodded, wondering what this could be about. She took her dishes to the sink and walked quietly into the other room. It was small compared to the other rooms in the house, but still fairly large. There was a large fire place at the far end of the room and a couch facing it set in the middle of the room. The rest of the place was rather empty and looked too big for the small amount of furniture that was there. The duchess was sitting on the couch and beckoned Liv to sit next to her. Liv went over and sat down, it was a bit awkward sitting next to this beautiful woman, she felt like her daughter rather than a guest.

"Yes, Duchess?" Liv asked, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence without being impolite.

"Please, call me Ann," the duchess said.

"Ann," Liv repeated, "you wanted something?" the duchess smiled.

"Yes, a question, if I may," she said.

"Sure,"

"Well, you see, we have not made much progress on the matter of getting you home. However, I had a special event planned for tonight, a ball, of sorts."

"Okay,"

"It was originally for Alice, but since you came those plans have disappeared. I still want to throw it, but I want to present you as not being Alice. I think it will make things easier on you while you're here, that way. However, I want your permission to do this. All you would have to do is show up," Liv thought this over for a minute. A ball, for her? It seemed unreal and she was flattered that the duchess had offered.

"Sure, as long as I don't have to get up in front of people," she said, finally.

"Oh, no, we'll just inform the guests beforehand that you are not Alice," the duchess said smiling.

"Thanks, is that all?" Liv asked.

"Yes, you can go now if you like," Liv nodded and stood, then left the room.

Nikkie put down her cell phone with a sigh. Liv hadn't returned any of her calls since two days ago, hadn't even answered her phone.

"Maybe she's just really busy," her mother had said, but Nikkie knew better. Liv always answered her phone, and if she couldn't she always returned the call by the end of the day or the next morning. No, Liv wasn't busy, something was up, and Nikkie was determined to find out what. Even if it meant missing her big performance.

"I have to wear a _what_?" Liv asked, eyes wide. Sophie smiled sheepishly.

"When it comes to dances, we like to be … traditional, here in Akon," she said.

"But I heard those things hurt! I heard girls had trouble breathing because of them!"

"Oh, stop whining, here I'll help you lace it,"

"Fine, but not too tight, okay?"

"I promise," Liv sighed as she let Sophie lace the uncomfortable corset. She felt like the air was being squeezed out of her. At least it was only for one night, and Sophie had kept her promise and loosened it a little.

"There, that isn't so bad is it?" she asked when she was finished. Liv just glared. "Come on, I'll help you with the dress,"

After she had finished getting all dressed up, and had her hair combed (and refused even the slightest bit of makeup) she went into Sophie's room so she could see herself from head to tow in the mirror. She was wearing a long, Victorian style dress with black ribbon draped on the skirt. The dress, was a lovely shade of red that looked nice on her. If it weren't for the corset, Liv would have enjoyed wearing such beautiful dress, but there was nothing she could do about it so she put on a smile and headed down to the ball room.

It was lovely down there, couples in elegant clothing danced in each others arms in the middle of the room. There were tables set up in the next room where women sat and gossiped and men discussed politics and sipped wine. Liv stood at the edge of the dance floor watching it all, when Sophie came up next to her.

"Why, aren't you dancing with someone?" she asked.  
"I don't know how," Liv replied.

"Oh, nonsense it's easy once you learn,"

"Well, I don't see _you _dancing with anyone," Sophie shrugged.

"I guess no one wants to dance with me," then, as if on cue, a handsome young man came up and held his hand out to Sophie.

"May I have this dance?" he asked.

"Sorry, I'm just the help, why don't you ask someone else," she said. Liv raised an eyebrow and looked at her as the man walked away.

"No one wants to dance with you, huh?"

"Well, pardon my attitude, but I always go to bed with sore feet after dancing. I tend to take the tempo a little fast,"

"I see,"

"Now, I'm going into the kitchen, and when I get back I better see you on that dance floor with someone, _anyone, _just as long as you're not standing here!" and with that she left. Liv sighed and made no move to find a dance partner until Alex came up to her. He was wearing a black suit and the top hat that had become his signature lately, he held out his hand to Liv and smiled.

"May I have this dance?" he asked. Liv shook her head.

"No thanks, I can't dance," she said, hoping not to disappoint him, though she needn't have worried.

"Now, how would it look if you didn't dance at your own party?"

"I told you, I don't know how,"

"I can teach you, then," and before she could protest Alex had swept her onto the dance floor. He took one of her hands in his and put the other on his shoulder (thankfully he was only about an inch taller than her so she didn't have to reach up so high) then he rested his hand on her waist and they started dancing. They started of slow and Liv soon got the hang of it. She was speechless, and she smiled in spite of herself. Then the music sped up and so did they.

"Wait, thats too fast!" Liv protested.

"Don't worry, you've got it," Alex smiled, "It's really quite easy when you get used to the tempo change," and he was right, it was easy once you knew what you were doing. Soon enough the two were lost in the music, each ignoring anyone who tried to intercept and take their place. It was wonderful, Liv felt like she was walking on air, and she never wanted to stop. However, all good things must come to an end and when the ball ended Liv went up to the balcony and let the chilly night air cool her as she leaned on the railing. Recounting the events of the night, but also thinking of home. She stayed like that for a while, thinking of Nikkie, and what Alice might be doing in her body. She had more or less accepted that this couldn't be a dream, but a small part of her still hoped that it was.

"You still out here?" the voice took Liv by surprise and she turned around to see Alex, standing a few feet away from her. He walked out on the the balcony and stood next to her, leaning on the railing. The sky was a dark blue and in the distance the city's white buildings seemed to glow under the moonlight.

"It's so nice out, I could stay out here all night," Liv said.

"I know what you mean, it's a good place to think. Sort out your problems, clear your mind,"

"I could spend hours up here sorting things out," an uncomfortable silence followed and Liv wondered if she had said something wrong but didn't get the chance to ask before Alex spoke again.

"Do you want to go back?" he asked, looking at her.

"I don't know anymore,"

"I don't want you to go," Liv turned to look at him and saw that he was sincere. There was a moment in which they stood like that, their faces inches apart, and then Alex slowly leaned in his eyes slightly closed. Liv's heart started pounding and she felt a blush creep into her cheeks, and the realization hit her hard. He was going to kiss her. She began to panic on the inside, she wasn't ready for this! Not now, not so suddenly! A million thoughts ran through her head at once making it hurt. She forced her mind to go blank and willed herself to relax, her eyes closing to slits as she waited for the moment when their lips would touch. Just a little closer and then …

"What are you two doing up here?" Liv's eyes shot open and both she and Alex pulled back so quickly that had there been a wall behind them they would have been in danger of a concussion.

"N-nothing! We weren't doing anything!" Liv stammered, turning to see none other than Luke. She knew she was blushing quite a bit and hoped that he couldn't see it in the dim light. Luke laughed and walked up to them grinning.

"Really?" he asked, slyly, "'Cause it looked to me like you guys were about to-"

"Luke, shut up," Alex said, he looked like he could kill Luke right about now but he was blushing under his expression of annoyance. Luke grinned, enjoying his friend's embarrassment.

"Whatever you say, lover boy," he teased as he turned and walked away. Liv watched him go, what now? You couldn't just resume a kiss like you could a conversation, it would be too awkward.

"It's kind of late, I'm going to go to bed," she said, not meeting Alex's eyes.

"Good night,"

"Night,"

When Liv was out of sight Alex sighed and fell back against the railing. What had he been thinking? _"I don't want you to go," _Like that mattered to her! She probably had family on the other side, family that she would miss. Family that mattered more than a boy she met two days ago.

Liv lay in bed, unable to sleep. _What would have happened if Luke hadn't interrupted? _She wondered and felt a pang of longing as she realized that she wanted to know. She closed her eyes and tried to tell herself that everything would be better in the morning. Things would be less confusing then, everything would be clear and the problems would seem petty and not to be worried about. Yes, everything would be better in the morning. It always was.

The crowd cheered and clapped as Nikkie took her bow. The performance had been great but she hadn't enjoyed it. In the back of her mind she was still thinking of Liv and why she hadn't returned her calls. When the cheers died down, Nikkie went back stage to wait for the results of the competition.

"You were great!" her mother cried as she came in and hugged her daughter.

"Thanks mom," Nikkie said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want to stay at grandma Lynn's with Liv for a little while, just me Liv and Grandma, is that okay?"

"Okay, I'll just have to call Lynn and make sure it's okay with her," her mother smiled and Nikkie felt a wave of relief wash over her. Phase one of finding out what her sister was hiding was complete. Nikkie smiled and acted normal when her dance instructor walked in with the judges results, she beat the air with her fist when she discovered she had won second place, and she danced out the doors raving about how she had to call everybody she knew to tell them the good news. Anyone who saw her that day would have seen an overjoyed tween, no one would have ever guessed that she was only going through the motions. But that was exactly the way she wanted it to be.

Liv decided that the best way to handle the events of the night before was to pretend that they didn't happen. If Alex mentioned it, then great! They could talk about it or something, but otherwise, it was probably best to continue as normal. She went down to breakfast light hearted and cheery.

After breakfast alone (she had slept in quite a bit after staying up so late). Liv went off to find something to do. She fond herself absentmindedly wandering out to the stables and when she got to the door she peeked inside. The horses were all in their pins just standing, not doing much else. "One two three four …" Liv counted them and came up with a dozen. She frowned, a dozen horses. A dozen more mouths to feed. A dozen animals that could be tamed but were still wild at heart. A dozen horses, and it only took one to carry two people to a city and back.

Alex yawned as he walked out to the stables to tend to the horses. As he got closer to his destination he noticed someone peeking inside the stable doors. He thought about calling out to them then recognized Liv and his heart sank. Should he mention last night? Maybe she would, and then what? He didn't want to have to explain his actions, mainly because he wasn't sure he knew how to. He sighed and walked up to her, readying himself for whatever might happen.

"I thought you didn't like the horses," he said, trying to act like the events of last night never happened. Liv turned around and shrugged.

"It's probably just because I don't know how to ride one … or make sure it wouldn't rear," she said. Alex was about to reply but he waited to long. "Hey, maybe you could teach me!"

"Right now?" he asked.

"If you have time,"

"Uh, okay," Alex went inside the stable and Liv followed. He went over to Rose and got her saddled then looked at the other horses, contemplating which one would be the easiest for Liv to handle. He finally decided on a spotted white mare and got her saddled. "Okay, let's start shall we?"

Nikkie stood inside the door of her grandmother's house. The minutes leading up to this moment were a blur in her mind and she only vaguely remembered grandma Lynn urging her mother to leave right away and let her take care of things. After Nikkie's mother left, Lynn had gone up stairs and locked herself in her room, she hadn't come down yet. Nikkie went into what she assumed to be a living room and found Liv sitting on the couch, reading.

"Liv!" she cried happily as she ran up to her sister, "You better have a good reason for not answering my calls! Now tell the truth, is this about some boy?"

"Why would it be about a boy?" Liv asked calmly, her voice an emotionless monotone. Nikkie blinked and began to feel uneasy. _Maybe it's just that time of month. _She thought, deciding to try again.

"Because you're a romantic," _"No, Nikkie, I'm a __hopeless__ romantic." _Nikkie thought of the usual come back and waited for Liv to say it but she didn't.

"Am I?" is what she said instead. Nikkie was beginning to feel very cross with her sister right now.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Go away,"

"Sheesh, Liv, if you're having a bad day just say so! I'll leave you alone, you don't have to be all weird about it!" at this Liv turned around, her voice maintaining the monotone.

"Okay, then leave me alone. I don't have time for silly little girls like you!" She snapped, her green eyes flashing dangerously … _green _eyes! That wasn't right, Liv had _blue _eyes. Nikkie took a step back, but instead of fear, she felt anger.

"Who are you?" she demanded, but the girl just turned back to her book and didn't answer. Nikkie walked around the couch so that she was standing in front of the impostor now. "Who are you!" she demanded again, and again the girl didn't answer. Nikkie slapped the book out of her hands and grabbed her by her shirt front. "Where's my sister! Tell me now!" Tears sprang to Nikkie's eyes as she said this, the thought that something terrible might have happened to her big sister was unbearable. The girl sighed.

"Your sister is probably fine, don't worry," she said.

"Probably? Where is she? Tell me that!"

"She's in a different world … in my body," Nikkie let go of the girl and stared at her in disbelief. It certainly made sense, she looked exactly like Liv save for the eyes.

"Prove it," the girl looked at her.

"What?"

"Prove it,"

"I can't,"

"You're lying, aren't you,"

"If I prove it, will you leave me alone?"

"Yes, but only for the rest of the day,"

"Okay, come on," The girl stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are we going,"

"Into the woods, we need to find Sven,"

After Alex had showed her how to mount the horse and direct it where she wanted it to go, Liv rode around the stable a couple of times to get the hang of it. It wasn't as hard as she expected it to be, but it wasn't that easy either. It would definitely take practice to perfect it. The two of them rode away from the the castle grounds and out into the open, Liv kept up her cheery mood and made polite conversation. She was trying to pretend that everything was as it used to be, but in the back of her mind she couldn't get the recent events out of her head. Now, when she looked at Alex, she saw him just a bit differently. He was no longer just the boy she didn't know very well, but who seemed like a nice guy. No, not that at all. Now he was Alex. Nice, sweet, sincere, mature, Alex. She felt like she'd known him her whole life, and it scared her to think that she might be falling in love so quickly. Liv shook the thought from her mind and concentrated on not running the horse into a tree.

"Have you lived here your whole life?" she asked Alex, more to distract herself from her thoughts than anything else.

"A good part of it, yes, but I wasn't born here," Alex replied.

"I see, so what about your parents?" a shadow crossed Alex's face and Liv worried that she had said the wrong thing.

"If you can even call them that," he muttered, his voice bitter.

"Oh. I'm sorry I brought it up,"

"No, it's nothing, really,"

"You sure?"

"Yeah. … We should probably head back now,"

"Okay,"

"How much longer?" Nikkie whined as she and girl went father and farther into the woods. It seemed as though they had been walking for hours but it was still light out side.

"You want proof that your sister is in my body, right?" the girl asked, coldly.

"Of course I do!"  
"Then shut up and follow me, we're almost there,"

"Okay, but will you at least tell me your name?"

"If you must know, my name is Alice. Now be quiet till we get to where we need to go," In that moment Nikkie thought of a wonderfully mean comeback but held in the urge to say it. She didn't want to make this Alice girl any nastier than she already was.

After what seemed like another hour of walking, the two girls reached a small house hidden by the trees. Alice went up and knocked on the door.

"Who's that?" a male voice asked from inside the house.

"Sven, it's me, open up!" Alice snapped.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by the name of Me, are you sure you have the right house?"

"I don't have time for games, Sven, now let us in!"

"Fine fine," the voice said as the door opened "but just for the record you're not supposed to be in this world, now are you?" The man standing in the doorway was tall with dark messy hair that extended to about the middle of his neck and deep brown eyes that seemed to stare right through you. He had a cigarette in his mouth and wore a long brown trench coat. When he saw the girls a wide smile spread across his face. "So that little escape trick didn't go quite as planned, did it, Alice?"

"Oh, shut up!" Alice said as she pushed her way inside. Nikkie followed and Sven turned, closing the door behind him. The inside of the house seemed a lot bigger than it had looked from the outside, but still small and somewhat cramped. On the far end of the room were stairs leading up to the second floor and the bottom floor was just one big room. The walls were covered with guns of all shapes and sizes, handguns, rifles, revolvers, muskets, you name it. Nikkie even saw a few guns that didn't look like any guns she'd seen before, not even in the movies.

"I didn't know it was legal to keep so many guns in one room," she said and Sven snorted.

"It's not if they aren't registered, that's for sure,"

"These are all under your name?"

"Heavens no! If all of these things were … legally mine, I wouldn't be hiding out here! I'd find myself a better, bigger house!" Nikkie was about to say something but Alice interrupted.

"That's beside the point, we didn't just come here to visit,"

"Then what do you need?"

"She wants proof that I came from another world. She wants to see her sister, who is in my body," Sven smiled when Alice said this.

"Well, why didn't you just say so in the first place? You want proof? I can give you proof!" he said.

Liv sat against one of the walls of the back court-garden, cursing herself for being such an idiot. She felt a deep pang of anguish as she thought of the last few days. How could she have fallen in love so quickly? She shouldn't have let herself make friends with anyone here, let alone fall in love! She sighed as she thought of home. She would miss her parents terribly, yes, but the thing that caused her the most pain was the thought of never seeing Nikkie again. She had realized by now that Nikkie was, more or less, the only thing tying her to her own world. Hot tears gathered in Liv's eyes as her thoughts turned to Alex. She didn't want to leave this world, not only because of him but also because of the others, but Nikkie was just so important to her. Liv pulled her legs close to her chest, put her head on her knees, and cried. Right now she didn't care about worrying the others when she wasn't at the dinner table. Right now she just needed to let out all the stress that she felt. So she let the tears fall and she almost didn't notice when Alex came looking for her.

Alex looked at Liv with concern. He'd come back here to find her crying, her head resting on her knees, her dress stained where the tears had fallen.  
"Liv, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned, but she just shook her head. "Do you want me to leave you alone?" again she shook her head.

"Please stay," she managed to say between sobs. Her voice was small and almost too quiet to hear. Alex sat down beside her and put a hand on her back.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Liv shook her head and continued to cry. Alex didn't like seeing her like this but he didn't know what he could do to help. After a minute he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. Liv turned to him and cried on his shoulder and he held her till her crying slowed to frequent hiccuped sobs then eventually stopped.

"Your majesty, it worked! A little differently than any of us expected, but Alice is no longer in this world!" the thin man said as he bowed to his master. The woman had her back to him and when she didn't turn around the man wondered if she had heard him. "Your majesty, I said-"

"I heard you, Smith," the woman said, her voice smooth.

"Ah, yes, very sorry, your majesty, my mistake," The woman gazed thoughtfully at the stain glass window before her then smiled.

"I do believe it's time to put our little plan into action," she said.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Nikkie's Proof, Liv's Conflict, and a Queen's Plot**

"What do you need a mirror for?" Nikkie asked as Sven dragged out a large old fashion mirror and set it up in the middle of the room.

"For your proof," he answered, proceeding to go to a wall and examine various guns along it. He eventually took a handgun from the wall and pointed it at the center of the large mirror. "You girls are going to want to stand back," he said, and Nikkie and Alice stood against the wall behind him. Sven pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang, which was almost immediately followed by the sound of breaking glass. Nikki covered her ears and watched the mirror break into large uneven pieces. Sven went over to the broken mirror and picked up a triangular piece that was about the size of the face of a microwave.

"Well, come on," he said as he headed out the door, Nikkie and Alice followed. Once they were out side Sven ran his finger along the sharp edge of the broken mirror till it bled, then he stuck the tip of the mirror into the wound, making Nikkie cringe. He then proceeded to stick the now bloody tip of the mirror in to the ground. "Come here," Nikkie and Alice went over to the broken piece of mirror and looked at it. For a moment the only thing Nikkie saw was her own reflection staring back at her, then Sven muttered something inaudible and the surface of the mirror began to shimmer as if it were water being blown by the wind. Once the ripples cleared Nikkie saw a girl with shoulder length hair that was black as ebony. She was crying on the shoulder of a handsome boy, wearing 19th century clothing and a large top hat. Nikkie watched the girl sit up and wipe the tears from her blue eyes. She said something but Nikkie couldn't hear anything making it seem like a silent movie.

"That _Is _Liv, and this _is _about some boy!" she gasped. Alice groaned.

"Ugh, he always has to be such a gentleman. It makes me sick," she said.

"You know him?" Nikkie asked.

"Yeah, his name is Alexander, and, like I said, he always has to be the gentleman,"

"Are you sure you're not just jealous?" Alice answered the question with a glare that made Nikkie shut up and turn her attention back to the mirror. Liv said something to which Alex nodded and she took his hand as she walked out of the mirror frame. Nikkie got up, feeling very tired all of the sudden. It was starting to get dark and she wanted to go back to grandma Lynn's and think this through.

"Show me the way home," she said to Alice, and the two girls said goodbye to Sven and started back the way they had come. Alice, glad to have the little trip of the day be done, and Nikkie, thinking of Liv and the charming boy who held her while she cried.

Over the next several days, Liv began to spend more and more of her time with Alex and it wasn't long before the two were rarely seen apart. Sometimes they went riding, but most of the time they were seen talking, their conversations ranging from preferred weather to philosophy. On one such occasion when the two were talking about music – one of the more favored topics of the both of them – Sophie walked by, carrying laundry. She stopped and watched as Alex took out his violin and began to play. As the notes ran together weaving a pretty tune, Liv's face lit up and a wide smile spread across her face as she listened happily to the music. Sophie sighed as she looked away and headed upstairs.

"Hey, Sophie. How ya doing? Did you do something different with your hair or something, because you look great!" Luke said as he ran to catch up with her and keep her pace. Sophie looked at him and sighed.

"What did you break this time?" she asked.

"What! I didn't break anything! Sophie, I'm offended, how could you be so cold?"

"Was it expensive?"

"Define … expensive," Luke said, giving up.

"Was it worth very much?"

"Well, that's a very broad question, you see, because one man's trash is another man's treasure and frankly I didn't see much worth in it at all. Rather useless if you ask me, I mean what can you do with an ancient vase from god knows where... heh,"

Sophie raised an eyebrow as she reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner.

"Did you clean up the mess?" she asked.

"Yes,"

"And you're prepared to pay for it right?"  
"Yes," Luke sighed.

"Then I don't see a problem,"

"That's all? You're not going to yell at me?"

"I'm not in the mood, unless there's something else you need to pester me about,"

"Actually, there is,"

"What is it?"

"I'm bored!" Sophie walked into her bedroom and started putting away her cloths.

"You're bored?"

"Yes, and Alex is too busy showing off," at this Sophie laughed.

"So it bothers you that he's spending so much time with Liv, does it?"

"No, I think it's great,"

"You do?"

"Yeah, if he weren't spending so much time with Liv, I wouldn't have anything to tease him about,"

"I see. I just hope he doesn't get too attached," Luke looked at Sophie quizzically.

"What do you mean?"

"Liv has to go home sometime. It's great that he's there for her and all but he shouldn't let himself get to close. If you play with fire, sooner or later, you're going get burned,"

The woman stared at the stain glass window in front of her, the angel in the glass with her arms spread and brown hair flowing seemed to give off a message that everything was all right. The woman smiled as she thought of this, everything may be alright now but glass was easily broken and in a world full of greed and dark ambitions, a crime-less city was hard to maintain.

"Smith!" the woman called, and her thin servant came running.

"Yes, Milady?"

"Be a dear, and go get Lucy, I don't feel like doing the dirty work this time around,"

"Oh I know this one!" Liv exclaimed as Alex started to play another piece on the violin. He stopped short and lowered his arms when he heard this.

"Do you?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, Mozart, right?"

"Correct!" Liv smiled triumphantly, and was about to tell Alex to keep playing when something occurred to her that made her frown.

"Wait a minute, how do you know who Mozart is?" she asked.

"What do you mean? He was an outstanding composer,"

"From _my _world. I mean, I know the people of this world have more knowledge about traveling through dimensions and all, but communication between the two worlds is very limited. How could you have known about Mozart unless you'd been to my world?"

Alex smiled and let out a small laugh. Liv was certainly not slow and it surprised and amused him that she came to her conclusion faster than he could think of an excuse. Not that he really needed to; though it had never occurred to him to tell her the truth it wasn't something he necessarily wanted to hide from her. Liv shifted in her seat and fixed him with a curious stare.

"Well?" she said her tone light. Again Alex smiled.

"Okay, you caught me,"

"Go on," Alex put his violin and bow down on the coffee table and sat on the couch next to Liv.

"I know about Mozart because I used to live in your world," he said.

"So how did you get here?"

"Same as you, only the person I switched places with didn't mess up and I stayed in my own body,"

"But didn't you want to go home? Didn't you miss your family?"

"Not really, my parents weren't that great at being supportive," Liv looked concerned.

"Oh. … So how did you end up here,"

"Well, I was twelve at the time. My parents were arguing, not anything serious just a little disagreement, but still enough that you wouldn't want to be around, so I just decided to go outside till they worked it out so I wouldn't have to listen to them,"

"I understand,"

"I was feeling a bit stressed, I had a lot on my mind and no one to vent to,"

"Go on,"

"I remember I felt like I just needed to get away for a while, maybe spend the night at a friend's or something so I just started walking," Here Alex stopped. Everything after that point seemed rushed and hard to remember, plus it felt like so long ago and he hadn't thought about in almost three years.

"Something wrong?" Liv asked.

"No, just having trouble remembering exactly what happened after that,"

"Oh, okay,"

"I think I went to the park or somewhere with trees … yeah the park. It wasn't the nicest of days and it was getting late so there weren't many people around. I was passing by the dog park, which still had some people in it, when it started to rain, I mean really rain hard, and the dogs started going crazy. Barking and howling like there was a storm coming or something. Uh there was this little pot hole or creator in the path that had filled with water, not very deep at all, and I stepped right in it and felt something grab my ankle,"

"What next?"

"I don't know, I assume I was dragged down, but the next thing I remember, Luke was shaking me awake and asking me if I was alright,"

"So do you know who switched places with you?" Alex shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but I remember Alice complaining about how some guy named Sven had left her,"

"So I see," Liv said and smiled slightly. "But you weren't even a little homesick?" again Alex shrugged.

"At first I was, but then I decided I was happier here," Liv looked at him and her smile widened a bit.

"So, the big question is, which world has better composers?" she asked and Alex laughed.

"Oh, your world, hands-down! We have some good composers here but they just don't compare to people like Beethoven and Mozart,"

The woman smiled as she turned to look at the innocent looking girl standing before her. Lucy's slight build and baby face made her the perfect person for the job at hand.

"Are you clear on your objective?" the woman asked. Lucy nodded. "So, once you get to the duchess's castle what are you going to do?"

"Become a maid so I may get closer to the target," Lucy said quickly.

"Very good, now you best be on your way. Time is a luxury we don't have," Lucy just nodded and then left.

Nikkie glared daggers at Alice as she slammed the book out of her hands.

"You have to go back!" she yelled. Alice just looked at her with the emotionless stare that Nikkie had come to hate.

"And, why do I have to go back? I rather like it here," Alice said.

"Because my sister needs her body back! She can't stay in your world, she belongs here!"

"Well, I'm certainly not going back. I worked so hard to get here and I'm not giving that up,"

"Wouldn't you rather be in your own body?"

"Better to be in someone elses body in a place I like than to be in my own body in a place I hate. Besides, this way your sister wont be missed because everybody will think I'm her,"

"Yeah until they actually talk to you. _My _sister isn't an antisocial-" Nikkie stopped herself and continued to glare. Alice looked up a smile in her eyes.

"What was that?" she asked smugly.

"Huh?"

"Your sister isn't and antisocial what? Go ahead, say it!" Alice's eyes danced with amusement and her tone suggested a challenge. Nikki scowled at her.

"My sister isn't and antisocial _bitch_!" she spat and Alice smirked.

"Maybe so, but what can you do about it?" Nikkie's face flushed with anger and she felt adrenalin coursing through her body. She had never been so angry in her life, it was frustrating. She let out a breath and willed herself to calm down. Fighting wouldn't solve anything, but oh, how she longed to punch Alice in the face, that might teach her.

"Look," she said as calmly as she could manage, "I'm going to get Liv back. Now you can help me, or not, but either way I'm going to get things back to the way they were!" Not wanting to hear a smart remark, Nikkie turned and stormed out of the room before another word could be spoken.

Alex sighed as he put away his violin. Liv had gone off to help Sophie with something, leaving him alone with his thoughts, which was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. It seemed that no matter where his thoughts started he always ended up thinking about the night on the balcony. What almost happened. Why did Luke have to choose then to be nosy? And yet, maybe it was a good thing he had startled them.

"Hey Alex!" Luke's voice pulled Alex from his musings. _Speak of the devil. _He thought humorlessly as his friend sat on the couch beside him.

"What do you want?" he asked, tiredly, he really wasn't in the mood for pranks. Luke wasn't smiling though.

"Hey, I was just joking out on the balcony that night, you know that, right? I knew you guys were just talking," he said, sounding sorry.

"Uh, yeah, it's fine," Alex said. A moment passed and then Luke's expression changed to one of realization.

"Wait a minute!" he said, sounding amused and surprised, "You really were going to kiss her weren't you!" Alex didn't meet his friend's gaze and Luke grinned. "You _like _her don't you!" Alex felt himself blush.

"Well, yeah … I guess. I mean, … yeah," he stammered, finally meeting Luke's gaze. He expected to see a grin on Luke's face but for the second time in the hour, his friend surprised him. He looked concerned.

"Of all the girls you could have fallen for, it had to be Liv, didn't it?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Alex, Liv's going to go home soon. Sophie found a way to get her back to her own world, indefinitely," he said.

"Have a safe trip, Sophie!" Liv called cheerfully, waving to Sophie as she stepped into the coach. It was rainy that morning and Liv and Alex stood side by side under one umbrella to keep dry. Alex fingered the little seed in his pocket, feeling it's smooth, cold surface.

_"Give this to Liv for me will you? It will get her home," _Sophie had said when she handed it to him the day before. _"And say goodbye to her for me, I have to go to the city for a week and wont be able to see her off,"_

Alex watched as Sophie waved goodbye. The driver cracked his whip and soon they were out of sight. _A week, huh? _Alex thought, still fiddling with the seed. He stared unseeing toward the city, only vaguely aware of Liv standing beside him. Inching closer to make sure she stayed dry and he was just barely aware of the decision he had subconsciously made. To pretend that everything was as it had been for the past ten days, and thus, hold onto Liv for just a little longer.


End file.
